The soliders in the 1st Cavalry Division were dedicated to serving the country and were always mission-ready. It was an honor and privilege to lead even a small group of them. Being a (butter bar) combat arms platoon leader is one of the toughest jobs in the world, but one of the best at the same time. Spilling blood in the mud is not the greatest of all experiences, but doing it with your fellow comrades built life-long memories and bonds.

Being in the military is one big character building experience (that's code in the Army for it sucks bad). PT at 0500 in full combat gear, Airborne jumps falling at 20 feet per second in full combat gear, being rained on non-stop in the field in full combat gear, and bullets - well they all build character.

Our unit was crazy and believed we were invincible. What we were in fact was well trained, focused, and dedicated to the mission. I learned that to lead, you have to love - as strange as that sounds in a military context. But, if your troops know that you love them and that you would do anything for them to keep them alive, they will follow you anywhere.

Our unit crushed it in both domestic deployments to the NTC (hate it, hate it, hate it) and foreign deployments (loved it, loved it, loved it), where no man was ever left behind. Did we want to be there, no. Did we do our duty and accomplish the mission, yes.

We were "a force for good in the world," and I still love each and every one of my troops to this day.

First Team!

All career roads in the Army at some point go through the Pentagon, I just got there a little earlier than expected.

After serving in the field for 3 years in the Cav, I did what I had to do at the Officer's Advanced Course to earn my pick of assignment - so I was lucky to be selected as the Future Concepts Officer for the Air Defense Branch. That's the cool part, but what they didn't tell me was I got to literally work in a vault everyday (really).

This opportunity was truly a chance to be a Force for Good in the World (homage to RR), and I took full advantage. In the History of the Military Art at the Academy you learn that warfare is transformed via extending the battlefield.

My programs were to lead the Robotics, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, S.D.I., and new indirect and incendiary on contact munition programs for the Branch. One of the most fascinating and impacting programs we fielded was the Aerial Combat Identification System. The tech enabled us to create an electronic signature of everything in the sky from a Scud missile to a MIG to a 737 (best not to mistake those). Coupled with the authoring the Counter Air Concept for TRADOC (Air Defense was archaic and passive btw), this program made a big difference for our country.

Implementing the technology allowed the Branch to change the rules of engagement from line of sight (also archaic) to enabling engagement 60+ miles out based on the electronic identifier, overcoming the risks of IFF outage (also archaic), and transforming warfare via extending the battlefield.

Kraft is a world leading food company - I think because of the people (Siga meu garrote Miguel!) I started working for 3 of the best bossed I ever had, Gerry Coughlan, Rick Searer, and Bob Morrison, and was then so fortunate to have built KGF's Category Management System together with another great guy (and housemate), Mike Silverstein, transforming the Kraft's sales force from a relationship-baed model to a profit-based one with good relationships.

We then launched Kraft in China. Cool/easy, right? - Except, there was no milk, no money (at the time), and 95% of Chinese were lactose intolerant (aside from that - no problem). So, we launched Maxwell House Coffee instead, levering the hot tea consumption behavior, and now the Chinese drink a lot of coffee. We still launched Kraft cheese, but replaced the milk with water (now called plant-baed), which reduced the cost by 90% and overcame the consumer issues, and built the supply chain for McDonald's to let them do the hard sampling work. We ended up buying Huaguan Diary in Beijing, which was fascinating as we installed the first ever time clocks and dismantled 225 beds from each of the factory worker's offices.

We expanded Kraft around Asia Pacific. Turns out the Taiwanese and Japanese love Philly Cream Cheese, which we launched together with one of my best friends, Uotani-san, who ultimate went to KO with me, and now is CEO of Shiseido (way to go Mash). Toblerone and Breyer's didn't quite turn out to be the same success.

We were then off to NY to run Marketing and then got shipped to Latin America - to expand Kraft Nabisco. What an experience with Gabby, Jorge, Bepa and so many people that are still friends. Congrats to all of them that continued massively successful careers. Together, we built the number one performing business within the Company, the number one performing business of all CPG companies in the Region, and did crazy things like creating Vanilla Oreos, Guava Newtons, and Dino LiveSaver's Gummies - so irreverent!

The Coca-Cola Company and its Bottler Partners create millions of jobs around the world and for every one job inside the firm, another 10 are created. Coke has been around for 125 years, and I believe its magic is the Company's ability to connect itself to whatever the relevant human movement of the time happens to be.

Of the 195 countries in the world Coca-Cola led Pepsi in 190 of them. Unfortunately for me, I was placed in one of them, where KO had a 15% share vs. Pepsi for more than 50 years. Within less than two years though we achieved 85% share and did one of the largest coups ever in the industry. But after spending close to a billion dollars to get it done, the country imploded with GDP declining >10%, unemployment exceeding 25%, and actual coups happening.

This was hard in every respect - especially to grow a business in this context, but Coke's senior leadership in Atlanta were unrelenting, so we figured it out. We went from an expectation of decline as a victim of the environment, to the fastest growing of all divisions worldwide. How? - but getting back to Coke's roots and putting the brand within an arm's reach of desire. To do so, we went into the slums of the country where 80% of the population lived. We created mini-warehouses in the largest house in each of these micro-communities (essentially converting coke dealers into Coca-Cola dealers). By doing so, we created 30,000 new jobs and put food on the table for families that could barely eat. And on top of that good, we built training centers, baseball fields, basketball courts, and donated more than 1MM how to read books to overcome a broken educational system.

As great a business experience as this was, it was just too dangerous. The ELN guerrilla list It's not a good short list to be on. To have multiple employees kidnapped or shot each year in what was one the highest murder rate areas in the world was challenging. Having to create a paramilitary force just to protect manufacturing plants was the norm - but it's actually not normal.

KO does great work around the globe and is pervasive in its presence. It was awesome, but was definitely a hardship - so moving to Belgium from there was ...a little different.

No one had ever heard of Interbrew. I was one of five American's in the Company in Belgium, and even though I had spent some time growing up in Europe, it was an awakening. They didn't really like us.

Interbrew's roots in Beer went back to 1366, but when I arrived, initially as Chief Marketing and Sales Officer, we we competed in 20 markets, and were losing market share in 18 of them. We had gained some scale, driven mostly by some recent challenging acquisitions (culturally and operationally), but were barely in the top 20 of all beer companies.

Enter lessons from West Point and Von Clausewitz. First, we did triage and stopped the bleeding in key markets, and then we took this brand called Stella Artois, that was a farmer's beer in Belgium and number 3 in market share there, and launched it around the world (with everyone's help and input). Member's of the Board (Belgian Counts) wanted to just kill the brand (really), but we thought different. We gave it a new label, some new French advertising, a new Chalice glass and pouring ritual, a new image et voila - it worked. It was a basic strategy by the way - create the Starbucks of beer to charge a premium, and source revenue from Heineken with something better and non-Dutch.

As step two, we figured out the RMS economics in every market (thanks to Bain for the help), figured out to make offers to small retailers they couldn't refuse (thanks Staten Island), and emplaced a new strategy (Voyager - thanks to McKinsey for the help). - And, we made bigger and better acquisitions. I got to lead the acquisition on AmBev down in Brazil, and then went on their Board. I got to name the new Company (InBev - as I wanted to be the "in" (cool) beverage company). We made Marcel, JP, and Beto a few more billions (which they deserved - they were/are great guys and brilliant (3G)) and they and the Brazilians ended up doing a reverse takeover of the Company.

FYI - if you want to be best in the world at something, have the best people, and in the beer industry the Brailians were - Favela/street fighting/save every penny mindset, sales execution focused, and perform or leave. These folks, coupled with a target setting system that we customized from the US military were the two biggest drivers of success.

Cott was a $1.8B company and the largest retailer brand beverage company across >50 countries. That's about all that was good, respectfully - it was a total turnaround. There was only one profitable customer, Wal-Mart and that's bad on multiple levels. The firm hadn't taken a price increase in 5 years, had a 14% gross margin, and ROIC of 2.7%, and the board had no idea.

And I uncovered all this in the 1st months I was there, and aluminum went to its highest in 50 years and there was no hedge, so at the outset the firm is loosing >$50MM a year. Great. What does one do in a context like this, knowing the bullet is on the way, you're the 4th CEO in 5 years, and there is no way out. The answer is you do the right thing - independent of the personal consequences.

We changed the portfolio from 100% sugary carbonated soft drinks to healthier beverages, penetrated new channels (convenience and food service with new beverages and new packages (where the $ were), raised prices, and cut costs to the bone. We then went to buy time to let it all work, and had a merger done, but the Board was slow to pull the trigger trickling us into the debt crisis and the deal was toast (for the moment).

It was no mas for me and the Board - so I left, but the decisive actions we took enabled the sale of the retailer brand business to Refresco for $1.2B and the reverse into Primo for $775MM.

I am so proud of the rescue we did at the Company and all that contributed. Personally/professionally it was casualty, but one should always put the needs of the many over what might be in one's personal best interests.

I learned a simple model from the 3G guys. 1) Treat all business in all aspects like a Private-equity/own-money/in your face Board, guard cash model. 2) Only participate in growth business. 3) Find a disruptive strategy in that growth business. 4) Focus on execution and what matters to drive that disruptive play and 5) Build the organizational capabilities to support execution (People, processes, systems, metrics, culture).

We applied the model to a range of different growth industries from medical to military to consumer to the health and wellness sector. The model worked. We purchased Throwdown, a leading brand in MMA, and original marker of the racks, rings and cages for the UFC. The team grew the business from near $0 to $20MM and sold to a major fitness supplier.

Next, we created Liberty Ammunition, and developed amazing patents in small arms including the one for the M855A1 main battle round for the US and other armies. This round transforms warfare - just like we had done before when I was in the service, by extending the battlefield. We tripled the range to 1 MOA @ 600 meters and tripled the terminal effects giving our front line troops an overmatched advantage.

In medical we created Vivitris in Supplements, Digital Health in Telehealth. and Vascular Technologies in Devices. Still in progress with the companies, but Digital and Vivitris still have promise. All start ups/scale ups, small companies don't work out. Just as one has a portfolio of stocks, this is why we had a portfolio of companies. Those companies that were not successful, always had a downfall because of one thing - the people, and many times because of the founders. They just can't let go, get out of their own way, own ego, and their own detriment, and unless you get the best people on a business or opportunity, you are not going to achieve your desired outcome.

We also created some consumer businesses - the most interesting and successful of which was NewAge - which went from near $0 to $450MM in 4 years. How? - the exact same way we achieved success in the other PE-backed firms: 1) Guard Cash 2) Pick a Growth sector 3) Develop a Disruptive Strategy 4) Focus on Execution, and 5) Build People/Organization capabilities to enable the execution.

NewAge was another simple idea - healthy products in online/direct distribution, using influencers and word of mouth as marketing. It was such a big opportunity, that we almost dropped everything else to focus on this. And the founders (I wasn't one), well they made out huge. Good for them, they deserve it and they took the initial risk,

The company started with 5 people, loosing thousands a year, with a product that could not be manufactured and in serious debt. No problem, we've dealt with worse. Within 3 months, we merged it with NewAge that was 10X the size at $25MM. It too was loosing money. No problem, we've dealt with worse. With a little scale, we then were able to add sone additional brands to get closer to $100MM. They weren't the best brands...(understatement), which is why we were able to acquire at 10X below industry multiples, but we believed we could do something with them, especially Marley in CBD which we/everyone felt had the potential to be big and overcome the dominance of the major soft drink companies at retail.

The initial strategy sort of worked, but we violated one of the key PE principles (guard cash), and as a result lost a lot of committed distribution. Beverage firms under $100MM are rarely profitable, and we too struggled because distribution, retailer, and production costs are so high. Scale is key, so we added Morinda (Noni juice) which gave us penetration globally. But...3 months post the acquisition, our most profitable market, China imploded. There's a movie called "A Series of Unfortunate Events," and we were living it. 1) Ran out of $ when our bank pulled our LOC at the last minute causing us to lose customers, 2) FDA kills the CBD industry after we/investors/congress/retailers were all ready for it, and then 3) China industry implosion wiping out all our profitability. Dang.

So, what do you do? Play the victim card? No, you persevere. We cut expenses, guarded cash, diversified from China (portfolio of markets), and diversified products (portfolio of products) including with CBD int'l where the FDA had no say.

Finally, we broke another PE rule on surrounding yourself with good people. On the plus side we grew to about $500MM from near zero 4 years prior. - But, the wrong people on the bus can be catastrophic. We were great - until we weren't, ultimately leading to selling the brand's business, selling the distribution business, and the direct business becoming Partner.co, (now owned by one of the finest humans I have ever met in the world (Go get em JR!) with a team of global influencers that are equally amazing.

Tech and software business are sone of the few attractive ones in what is a very undulating global economic environment. Vaya Space was one of those tech leaders...in a growth industry...with a disruptive strategy. Small satellite launch is expected to be $1T in the next 10 years, and Vaya was one of the lowest cost providers, and the greenest. The Company figured out how to convert recycled plastics into rocket fuel/engines generating 600kN of thrust, carrying payloads of >1,000kg, and converting into primarily water vapor on ascent.

Of course you're competing with billionaire backed competitors - but the bigger they are...

ProHawk AI can equally change the world, maybe even more so. Databases and bits and bytes are now converting to video and video interpretation, with needs for real-time/actionable video across satellites, drones, security, law enforcement, energy - you name it.

ProHawk AI converts night to day and its algos see through virtually any obstacle/impediment. it does so on a pixel by pixel basis and restores and interprets what should be visible vs. enhances. Abobe PS, for example is post processing, 2D. still images, juxtaposed vs ProHawk @ real-time processing, 3D video. Only other difference is Adobe is $12.9B.

Plug and play/no code, 3 millisecond processing (faster than a blink of an eye), Edge/Client/Server/or Cloud deployable, and ready now. Just getting started with commercialization, the potential for growth and impact is unobstructed, especially with new partners Dell and NVIDIA (and others).